Pinot noir enthusiasts have another reason to rave about their beloved red wine: The grapes of the famous cultivar may be a little bit smarter than some other varieties. According to Laurent Deluc, an Oregon State University horticulturist, individual grapes on a pinot cluster ripen at different rates, yet somehow they all end up mature at harvest. That “catch up” mechanism contrasts with Zinfandel, “a famous uneven ripener,” says Deluc, who conducted the pinot research at OSU’s Woodhall Vineyard. At the onset of ripening, his team identified four different berry classes on the same cluster: green hard berry, green soft berry, pink soft berry and red soft berry. Then they looped color-coded strings around individual grapes to track their development and found they all eventually ended up in the same class. Positing a genetic trigger, Deluc says the mature berries may be sending a “hurry up” message to their under-ripe siblings. The next step is to develop a model to help industry identify the best time for harvest, says the French Deluc, adding that the gap in knowledge in the field of grape ripening has frustrated him for 10 years. “When I was in the Ph.D. program, I said, ‘One day when you become a researcher, you will study this aspect.’”

BY STUART WATSON

BY JON SHADEL

The technology industry is always in flux. And this rapid rate of change poses challenges to companies ranging from nimble startups aiming to make their mark to established organizations fighting to remain relevant. This is particularly true in the competitive digital display market, where an Oregon company has been at the forefront of nearly every major breakthrough in the last three decades.

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Robert S. Wiggins has joined Lane Powell as a Shareholder in the Corporate/M&A Practice Group. Wiggins is a well-known lawyer, entrepreneur, and investor with more than 30 years of experience leading and advising established and emerging companies in the Pacific Northwest. Wiggins will focus his practice on offering outside general counsel services, including general corporate and board representation, business transactions and capital events.